HUD granting leave to staff who volunteer

HUD announced just now it will allow those of its staff who volunteer on private charitable efforts to do so without loss of pay, subject to supervisors' approval. An example cited is a staff member in a New York State field office who also serves as a volunteer firefighter. This appears to be a policy change intended to apply generally; it's unclear how it applies to the current Katrina crisis, which at present would seem to be offering HUD staff members plentiful opportunities to assist the needy in their capacities as public employees.

....ah, here we are: the staff union's press release says they've been negotiating over this issue since April.